May 17, 2006

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CHAPEL HILL -- The University of North Carolina women's lacrosse team will play defending NCAA champion Northwestern in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinal round on Saturday, May 20, in Evanston, Ill. The Tar Heels advanced to Saturday's quarterfinal matchup with a 9-6 win over Maryland in the first round in Chapel Hill, N.C. The Wildcats beat Stanford, 17-9, in the first round in Evanston.

The winner of Saturday's game will advance to the national semifinal to play the winner of the game between No. 1 seed Duke and No. 8 seed James Madison. The semifinals and final will be played on May 26 and 28, respectively, at Nickerson Field in Boston, Mass.

With a win over Northwestern, UNC will claim its fourth Final Four berth. The Tar Heels reached the national semifinals in 1997, 1998 and 2002. Carolina is participating in the NCAA Tournament for the second season in a row. UNC reached the quarterfinal round in 2005 before losing at Duke. The Tar Heels are making their eighth NCAA Tournament appearance in 11 years as a varsity program.

Carolina is 13-5 this season and were ranked No. 5 in the final IWLCA poll (dated May 2). UNC reached the semifinals of the ACC Tournament in Baltimore on Apr. 28 before losing to eventual ACC champ Virginia 12-10 in overtime.

Northwestern is 17-1 this season, including an 18-10 victory over Carolina in Evanston, Ill., on April 21. The Wildcats won the 2005 NCAA championship and have gone 38-1 in the last two seasons (a perfect 21-0 in 2005).

THE SERIES VS. NORTHWESTERN
Northwestern leads the all-time series with North Carolina, 2-0. That mark includes an 18-10 win over the Tar Heels a month ago in Evanston, Ill.

UNC and Northwestern met last year, with Northwestern winning 6-5 in Chapel Hill in the season opener for both teams. The one-goal win was the closest of the Wildcats' 21-0, national title season.

EARLIER THIS SEASON VS. THE WILDCATS
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Second-ranked Northwestern defeated No. 5 North Carolina 18-10 on April 21 in Evanston, Ill. The win moved NU to 12-1 while UNC dropped to 11-4 and saw its four-game win streak come to an end. The win was NU's 15th in a row at home.

A year after the two teams combined for 11 goals in the 6-5 Northwestern victory in Chapel Hill, the two teams combined for 28 on April 15.

Northwestern took it to the Tar Heels right from the opening draw and scored 18 goals on the nation's third-best defense that came in giving up only 7.3 goals per game. The 18 goals are the most given up by UNC this season.

Kristen Kjellman led Northwestern with five goals -- her eighth game this year with four or more goals-while Aly Josephs tallied four. Chelsea Parks and Christina Juras led UNC with three goals each.

Northwestern was in control throughout, most notably in the first period, winning the draw controls by a count of 13-4 (21-9 for the game) and outshooting UNC 22-6 as the 'Cats held a 13-3 lead at halftime.

After Juras second goal of the game cut the lead NU lead to 4-2, Northwestern reeled off a run of nine straight goals over a 13-minute span. Lindsey Munday had three assists to go with two goals. Sarah Albrecht and Meredith Frank and also had multiple goal efforts while Laura Glassanos recorded one goal and two assists.

PLAYING A STRONG SCHEDULE
The Tar Heels annually play one of the most challenging schedule in the nation, both in Atlantic Coast Conference play and out of conference. The Sagarin Ratings released on May 10 listed Carolina as having played the nation's second-toughest schedule, trailing only Virginia. UNC was ranked No. 5 in the Sagarin rankings.